Friday, September 20, 2013

In this weekly column, RFT Music gets to know local creatives, musicians and their missions. Get a slice of the local scene, complete with a snippet of sound and info about upcoming releases and shows. Stick around to see what St. Louis artists have to say whenever they Fill in in the Blank.

Brothers and best buds David and Jeff Lazaroff have the type of close-knit relationship that all siblings ought to aspire to. The duo has written songs together on guitars since their high school days and officially began playing under the name Brothers Lazaroff around 2003. For the past five-and-a-half-years, the brothers have made local musicians Grover Stewart (drums), Teddy Brookins (bass) and Mo Egeston (keyboards) part of their extended family. On Saturday, September 28, the group will release its fourth release: Hope, Fear, Youth.

Influences for the brothers include everything from Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams to Wilco, bluegrass and dub reggae. While difficult to pinpoint Brothers Lazaroff's singer-songwriter-based sound, which melds everything from psychedelic rock and acid jazz to soulful Americana, it's safe to call it roots music.

"A lot of times roots get stopped at blues, folk and jazz," says David Lazaroff. "We love the Americana side of roots music but we also pull from Middle Eastern and African music and many different styles.... We always try to find a way to cross-pollinate. Playing with St. Louis musicians has kind of exposed us to so many styles."

David and Jeff Lazaroff share songwriting duties, with a lyrical vocabulary that tends to focus on the human condition, something they find appeals not only to them but also universally. Hope, Fear, Youth is a collection of older tunes recorded in one night at Red Pill Studio to a reel-to-reel tape machine. The release also features bonus tracks by Coco Soul and Tom "Papa" Ray. Listen to some preview tracks from Hope, Fear, Youth below.

We asked Brothers Lazaroff to fill in the blanks ahead of their release show and block party next week. See what they had to say on the next page, get info on the show and check out some videos on the following pages.